Olympic grad Moore hungry for title shot with Eagles

Former Olympic High football standout Keith Moore (center) will play in Saturday's Football Championship Subdivision national championship game against North Dakota State.(Photo: Denis Gircha / Eastern Washington University)

Not that the former Olympic High School football star minded having his return visit to Bremerton in late December cut short.

"It's for a good cause," Moore said.

Eastern Washington (12-2) will by vying for its second national championship on Saturday, when the third-ranked Eagles take on No. 1 North Dakota State (14-0) in the Football Championship Subdivision title game Saturday at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

Moore, a redshirt sophomore defensive lineman with the Eagles, hopes to make his near 300-pound presence felt against the Bison.

"It's honestly a dream come true," Moore said. "I'm extremely excited to see what we as as a team make of the dream a lot of teams don't get to live."

It's been more than three years since Moore made a name for himself at Olympic as an Associated Press first-team all-state offensive and defensive lineman. As a senior during the 2015 season, he led the Trojans to the Olympic League 2A title and 10 consecutive victories before the team lost to Sedro-Woolley in the state tournament.

Keith Moore(Photo: File photo)

"It was such a special season," Olympic football coach Sal Quitevis Jr. said.

After visiting Eastern Washington, Portland State and the University of Texas at El Paso before national signing day, Moore decided to fly with the Eagles, the 2010 FCS national champions.

"The thing about Eastern is really the environment," Moore said. "When I came here on my visit, it was the coaches who brought me in and made me feel like family. It was real."

For obvious reasons, Moore considers his career to be a work in progress heading into Saturday's national championship game. He redshirted his freshman season in 2016 and spent last year as a backup defensive tackle, finishing with seven tackles while playing in 11 games.

Entering 2018 as a backup, Moore missed Eastern's first two games for an unspecified team violation — "I had too much fun over the summer," he said — and spent three other games on the sidelines while recovering from a sprained knee.

When given a chance to play, Moore has made contributions. Appearing in nine games, he has 14 tackles (seven for loss) and is tied for second on the team with four sacks. The most important of those sacks came in Eastern's FCS semifinal win over Maine on Dec. 15.

"Our mentality going into the game was to really get after them up front," Moore said.

With Eastern leading 7-0 midway through the first quarter, Moore helped keep momentum on the Eagles' side as Maine entered Eastern territory inside the 40-yard line.

Former Olympic High football standout Keith Moore (72) helped Eastern Washington rout Maine 50-19 in a FCS semifinal game on Dec. 15. The Eagles play North Dakota State for a national championship Saturday in Frisco, Texas.(Photo: Denis Gircha / Eastern Washington University)

"It was second down and eight," Moore said. "We got the play call kind of late. We're at the line going, 'What's the play? What's the play?' The snap went at the last second ... I read it was a pass. Seconds later, I'm there at the quarterback, ball is at my feet."

Six plays later, Eastern scored the second of three touchdowns in the first quarter and the rout was on. The Eagles won 50-19 despite playing without Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year Jay-Tee Tiuli, who sat out due to a violation of team rules.

"All year, it's been next man up," Eastern linebacker Ketner Kupp told The Spokesman-Review after the game. "Our defensive line is very deep and they have playmakers. It was great to see young guys and role players step up."

Moore, who called Eastern defensive line coach Brian Strandley a "genuine" guy who treats all his players fairly, said he won't be satisfied being a role player moving forward. He'd like to become a starter by next season as he works toward the goal of getting his degree in 2021.

"This is not exactly what I'd hoped for, but it's what I'm grateful for," Moore explained. "I know it's still a process, a long journey ahead of me. I'm going to keep that mentality that I've got to go get it. Go get it."

Quitevis doesn't have any doubts that Moore has the hunger needed to succeed.